JA Success Skills meets the needs of a diverse group of high school students by providing engaging, academically enriching, and experiential learning sessions in work-readiness education and career perspectives. There are seven required, volunteer-led sessions.

 

The key learning objectives listed beside each session state the skills and knowledge students will gain.

Session One: It’s My Life

  

Students are introduced to the 16 Success Skills. Working in groups, they evaluate sample resumes to determine which job candidate they would hire.

 

 

Key Learning Objectives

  

Students will be able to:

 

* Identify personal work-readiness skills.
* Complete a personal skills assessment.
* Explore connections between their personal assessment and their dreams, values, goals, and skills.

Session Two: Listen Up

  

Working with partners, students participate in a role-playing activity designed to develop effective speaking and listening skills. Using verbal and nonverbal cues, they learn how to build rapport with others.

 

Key Learning Objectives

  

Students will be able to:

 

* Explore strategies of effective formal and informal workplace communication.
* Identify nonverbal communication uses and implications.
* Complete an informal self-assessment.

Session Three: Stay Connected

  

By analyzing case studies and completing a puzzle activity, students recognize the need for teamwork and cooperation in the workplace.

 

Key Learning Objectives

  

Students will be able to:

 

* Identify the role of cooperation, integrity, and respect in effective teamwork.
* Evaluate strategies for working effectively with others to achieve a mutual goal.
* Complete an informal self-assessment.

Session Four: Think Win/Win

  

Working in teams, students develop solutions to potential workplace conflicts. They consider win/win, win/lose, and lose/lose responses to conflict.

 

 

Key Learning Objectives

  

Students will be able to:

 

* Evaluate and apply effective speaking and listening skills to resolve conflict.
* Identify and implement win/win solutions to conflict.
* Complete an informal self-assessment.

Session Five: Work Smart

  

Working in groups, students participate in a game show in which they practice their decision-making skills by solving common workplace problems.

 

Key Learning Objectives

  

Students will be able to:

 

* Identify and apply strategies necessary for effective problem-solving in real-life contexts.
* Complete an informal self-assessment.

Session Six: The Marketing Spin

  

Working in groups, the students practice the Success Skill Reflect and Evaluate. They identify the connection between advertising a product and promoting themselves.

 

Key Learning Objectives

  

Students will be able to:

 

* Analyze and assess product advertising.
* Present selected products based on advertising information.
* Assess and evaluate personal information and prepare a resume.

Session Seven: It’s My Future

  

During this final session, students participate in mock employment interviews. They review the 16 Success Skills presented throughout the course of the program.

 

Key Learning Objectives

  

Students will be able to:

 

* Identify effective interviewing skills.
* Evaluate peers and provide feedback.
* Reflect on the JA Success Skills experience.

JA Success Skills enhances students’ learning of the following concepts and skills:

 

Concepts– Building rapport, Careers , Career choices, Choices , Communication, Conflict resolution, Cooperation, Data collection, Effective teamwork, Evaluating information, Job interview, Marketing, Oral communication, Problem-solving, Reflect and evaluate, Resolve conflict, Synergy, Values

 

Skills– Active listening, Analyzing information, Analyzing points of view, Brainstorming, Categorizing data, Cooperation, Critical thinking, Deductive reasoning, Interpreting information, Oral and written communication, Problem-solving, Public speaking, Reflect and evaluate, Self-assessment, Synthesizing and evaluating information, Working in groups

 

JA Success Skills is a seven-session course and is recommended for students in grades 9-12. Instructional materials are packaged for 32 students and include detailed activity plans for the volunteer, workbooks for students, and consumable materials to be used in the classroom.

 

All JA programs are designed to support the skills and competencies identified by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. These programs also augment school-based, work-based, and connecting activities for communities with school-to-work initiatives.